EUROPEAN COMMISSION Humanitarian Aid Decision 23 02 01 Title
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EUROPEAN COMMISSION DIRECTORATE-GENERAL FOR HUMANITARIAN AID - ECHO Humanitarian Aid Decision 23 02 01 Title: Humanitarian aid in favour of vulnerable marginalised groups in Laos. Location of operation: LAOS Amount of Decision: EUR 1,200,000 Decision reference number: ECHO/LAO/BUD/2005/01000 Explanatory Memorandum 1 - Rationale, needs and target population. 1.1. - Rationale: The humanitarian situation of the indigenous minorities traditionally living in remote highlands areas of Laos has deteriorated as a consequence of a set of Government policies intended to encourage their resettlement in more accessible lowland areas along roads. Justifications for these policies include eradication of certain agricultural practices (shifting cultivation or “slash and burn” and opium cultivation), access and service delivery, and cultural integration. Even if they are not forced to resettle, limiting shifting cultivation means that villagers are no longer able to subsist on uplands agriculture, and are likely to be more receptive to moving to the lowlands in the expectation of a better livelihood. Those who do move are thrown into a completely new environment where very often there are no services provided. Mortality rates of up to 30% higher than the national average in upland communities following poorly implemented resettlement were reported in a UNESCO/UNDP study conducted in 1997, the first to comprehensively examine the impact1. Subsequently, there has been a growing volume of research, including two recent DG ECHO-funded research studies,2 documenting the negative impacts of resettlement from uplands to lower-lying areas. 1 The first major study of internal resettlement was conducted in 1997, led by anthropologist Yves Goudineau, and resulted in the study: Basic Needs of Resettled Communities. An updated research article was published in 2004; Planned Resettlement, Unexpected Migrations and Cultural Trauma in Laos, Olivier Evrard, Yves Goudineau. 2Service Delivery and Resettlement: Options for Development Planning UNDP/ECHO 2004; Lao PDR: Is resettlement a solution for human development? Action Contre La Faim (ACF), September 2005. ECHO/LAO/BUD/2005/01000 1 This resettlement process has received little attention from the international community and the needs of the ethnic minorities subject to resettlement policies are largely forgotten. In the ECHO’s Forgotten Crises Analysis for 2006 Laos ranks 16 out of 106 countries. This Decision intends to prevent a further deterioration of the humanitarian situation acting at two levels: on one hand the condition of the populations living in the highlands and thus at risk of being resettled will be improved; on the other hand access to basic services will be ensured for the communities that have already been resettled. A particular case within this context is the issue of the Hmong ethnic minority, who represent around 7% of the country’s population. This group was allied to the US during the Vietnam war that also took place in Laos. Following the creation of the Lao PDR in 1975 and the fall of the former regime, approximately one-third of the Hmong left the country to settle in the US or refugee camps in Thailand. Between 1,000 and 3,000 Hmong, including women and children, are estimated to be still in hiding in Laos, in particular in the forested areas of Xaysomboun Special Zone in the north of the country3. There has been a continuous although slow exodus of Hmong emerging, and a number have been resettled in existing villages. In June 2005, an estimated 170 women, children and elderly came out in Xieng Khouang Province, situated in the north of Laos, an event which received significant media coverage. There are reports of a difficult and deteriorating humanitarian situation among the Hmong who remain in hiding and little or no access for the UN, ICRC or INGO’s4. Yet, the government has declined any assistance from the donor community. This Decision will target those Hmong who have emerged, as well as other particularly vulnerable Hmong communities. The humanitarian situation of ethnic minorities is aggravated by heavy UXO5 contamination of the areas in which they live. Laos is one of the most heavily bombed nations in the world per capita,6 mainly affected by UXO dating back to the Indochina Wars. UXO seriously constrains the livelihood and food security of the population living in rural areas7. It also constrains the delivery of humanitarian aid and of basic services. Handicap International (HI) reported in 1997 that over 3,800 villages, with a population of 1.3 million, have been affected by UXO and mines. The government's main clearance agency, UXO Lao, reports that 10 out of the 18 provinces in Laos are severely contaminated and that 25% of all villages in the country have a continuing presence of UXO. There have been over 11,000 reported accidents since the end of the war. Actions funded under this decision will include an UXO clearance component in order for the humanitarian assistance delivered to be able to reach the target populations. DG ECHO has engaged in discussions with the Commission services responsible for the implementation of the food security budget line in order to link relief with rehabilitation funding for the target population.. Two of the operations funded by DG ECHO in 2005 will be continued under the food security budget line, and it is 3 Estimates vary greatly on the number, some observers putting it as high as 30,000; but access to these areas is not possible. 4 Report on French national TV; reports to DG ECHO field experts; Lao Human Rights Council, Inc., USA; 5Unexploded Ordnance 6 UXO Lao, the government's main clearance agency. 7 Landmine Monitor Report 2003. ECHO/LAO/BUD/2005/01000 2 envisaged that the operations proposed under this Decision will be taken over either under this budget line or by other donors in 2006. 1.2. - Identified needs: The remote areas targeted under this Decision are in Khoun, Kham, and Phoukout districts (Xieng Khouang Province); Vieng Phukha district (Luang Namtha province) and Xaysomboun and Thathom districts (Xaysomboun Special Zone). These areas have historically been under-supported, due to their remote location, inaccessibility, security concerns and access restrictions. Furthermore, some of them host vulnerable families recently emerged from the forest. They are among those identified by the Government as being among the poorest districts in the country8. Thathom in particular has been identified as very vulnerable by the World Food Programme (Vulnerability Assessment Maps update July 2005). Some are villages which have been resettled, and suffer the impacts on their livelihoods, health and well-being; others have not been resettled, but are extremely remote and without basic services, and at risk of being resettled unless they can reach a minimum level of services. Most of the target areas (with the exception of Vieng Phukha) are UXO-contaminated. Xaysomboun Special Zone (Xaysomboun and Thathom districts): Total targeted population is 24,283 people (4,091 families). The targeted area consists of a mixture of settled and resettled villages. The extreme population vulnerability is related to: lack of safe water, sanitation and basic healthcare, lack of access to fertile land and absence of training in new paddy rice cultivation techniques, inadequate shelters and inability to develop coping mechanisms in the new socio-economic environment. Non-resettled communities are considerably disadvantaged in terms of access to infrastructures and to basic health and education facilities. Most communities have no access to clean water; most water comes from mountain streams and may be contaminated during collection from the source or during storage. Proper hand-washing practices are not followed during food preparation and there is unsafe disposal of human excreta. There are recurrent cases of diarrhoea, malaria and other easily preventable diseases. Waterborne diseases are chronic in most project areas, affecting the health of children and the labour force. The food security situation is poor due to limited paddy area and low yields: on average families have a three to four-month rice shortage. Since most communities have no path/roads to their villages or into the area, there is limited access to markets and health and education services. Although health structures sometimes exist in resettlement sites, there is often insufficient primary healthcare and the displaced can rarely afford to pay for the services available. Other factors limiting access to healthcare are also related, insofar as such services exist, to cultural barriers to using official health structures. Villagers are at risk of resettlement due to food insecurity. Families depend on upland rice fields, which have fertile soils, and other crops can be grown, but there is a lack of access to markets. As well as provision of safe water, health and sanitation education are needed. Support to livelihood recovery through improving household production, and distribution of agricultural inputs is needed. 8 The government’s National Growth and Poverty Eradication Strategy (NGPES) is the strategic framework for the development and implementation of all of its growth and poverty eradication programmes. ECHO/LAO/BUD/2005/01000 3 Khoun, Kham,Vieng Phukha and Phoukout districts: The intended project beneficiaries are the most vulnerable 29 villages situated in the mountains, with a total population of 16,250 people. Of these villages, 20 are composed of the Hmong ethnic group. These are communities which are have not been resettled. In Phoukout district the project will target the 30 vulnerable families who recently came out of the forest. These families, as well as the 81 communities which host them, are in need of safe water, health and sanitary education, improved access to basic services. Of the 29 villages, 17 are villages which will have DG ECHO support for the first time under this Decision, and 12 are villages where DG ECHO has an ongoing programme under the previous Decision, and activities will be consolidated.